


Venus Rising

by petaldancing



Category: Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun | My Little Monster
Genre: F/F, Gen, Ladies Loving Ladies, Pacific Rim AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-04
Updated: 2013-08-04
Packaged: 2017-12-22 09:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/911851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petaldancing/pseuds/petaldancing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"But, there's no one else I want to be with." - Shizuku, Natsume, Pacific Rim AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Venus Rising

Ever since she was a little girl, Natsume dreamed about how it would be like to be loved by people. To be accepted for who she was, to have friends who would send her text messages asking about homework or plan outings to go to watch the latest blockbuster movie together on the weekends.  That was what she truly wished for every birthday as she blew out the candles on the cake her father bought just for her. She read shoujo manga depicting girls who would stick together through thick and thin, friends who would bandage each other's broken hearts and triumph over heinous villains together in a flash of sparkle and glitter. She wondered if there was anyone in the world who would do that with her: take down monsters, find true love, but ultimately, be someone whose side she would never leave. 

 

When she was sixteen, she met Shizuku Mizutani. She was a girl who liked to read and didn't talk much in class, except to answer questions. She was also Natsume's first friend.  

When they were nineteen, a monster emerged from the sea. 

 

◇

Natsume found it hard to believe where she had ended up. Back when she was staggering through high school, her grandest aspiration was to work in a flower shop. That was the only thing she thought she could handle. Flowers didn't say bad things about her, flowers didn't get jealous of her, and flowers smelled nice. She liked pretty flowers and she liked taking care of them. It was simple but meaningful. 

Instead, she now worked in the Tokyo Shatterdome. It was meaningful, sure, but simple? Not at all. Not even a little. 

Shizuku's mother had quit her job as a lawyer and joined the PPDC the moment the Kaiju War had begun. Shizuku, who had always admired and adored her mother, had quickly decided what she was going to do. Natsume hadn't imagined that they would be pulled straight into the heart of the resistance. She'd wanted to grow up and be a carefree university student who drank Starbucks and skipped lectures. Instead, she followed Shizuku as she sat for aptitude tests and screenings to join the Jaeger Academy. 

She spent weeks buried in books and trying her best to listen as Shizuku explained Kaiju and Jaegers and other things she could hardly remember. She remembered how soft Shizuku's lap was to lie on for a nap. She remembered the hot chocolate Shizuku's father used to make them, and the constant smile he wore, like he was exhausted and worried but still loved his family too much to give up just yet. She remembered Shizuku asking her, "Are you sure you want to do this too?"

Natsume had looked at Shizuku then. She wondered how she could go on living normally if she knew her best friend was somewhere far far away, plated in armour and slaying beasts that the government assured them  _would be slayed_. She was terrified of fighting these monsters, which were ruthless and actually bled and had already crumbled cities to the ground, a far cry from the incompetent villains in the manga she used to read. 

But what scared her even more was being separated from Shizuku.     

◇

Natsume glared at her opponent, hunched on the other side of the arena. 2-3. She had to win this to make it even. She shifted her bare feet, finding a good bearing on the floor. The moment she saw those pigtails whip into motion, Natsume reacted, striking out and dodging the head of the incoming sparring stick. She pushed back and they grappled for a few seconds, a conversation of mind and split second decisions that punctuated when Natsume ducked out and spun around to tap Shizuku's forehead with her own weapon. 

3-3.

Natsume flung her sparring sticks aside and seized Shizuku in her arms. " _Mitty!_  We're drift-compatible!" she shouted, unable to control her excitement.

Shizuku grabbed onto her shoulders, not to return the embrace, but to pry her off. "Natsume," she hissed, "get off. Everyone's looking at us." 

"Let them look," Natsume said, grinning into her dear friend's shoulder and feeling incredibly pleased with herself. This was the best outcome. Their skin was sticky with sweat from all the sparring they had done, and in any other circumstance, Natsume would be running towards the showers. This moment would be the exception. She wanted to cherish this moment for as long as she could - the very first time she was an equal to Shizuku Mizutani. 

Shizuku was trying to walk out of the arena, inching step by step as Natsume's weight hindered her. "Honestly, you're troublesome," Shizuku said as the crowd of students made way for them to pass. 

Natsume clung to her still.  

◇

"This is Venus Rising." Ooshima gestured to the red Jaeger looming over them. 

Ooshima had been in some of their classes in the Jaeger Academy. She had originally trained to become an technician, but in the short span of a few months, had been promoted to an officer that worked in the LOCCENT and looked after all the new rangers that had entered the Shatterdome in the last year. This consisted of Natsume and Shizuku, as well as the Yoshida cousins and Yamaguchi siblings. 

"What are her specs?" Shizuku asked, cupping her chin. 

Ooshima handed her the blueprints. Shizuku skimmed through them quickly. Natsume squinted at the numbers and decided that she would just ask Shizuku to translate everything for her later on when they had the time. 

"It's rare, but not unheard of, for a Jaeger to have two female co-pilots," Ooshima said as they walked past the engineers who were still putting some finishing touches on the sleeping Jaeger. "Rest assured, we've assigned you this Jaeger to fully utilize your strengths. Venus isn't strong and doesn't have as much firepower. She's not particularly big either, but in exchange, she's nimble and has one special ability."

"What is it?" Natsume asked. She stared hard at the Jaeger. Venus Rising looked like most of the other robots docked in the Shatterdome, except that there were elaborate protrusions in her back. 

"Flight," Shizuku answered, still scanning through the blueprints. 

"Flight?" Natsume repeated. Her eyes lit up as it registered and the prospect dazzled her. "She can fly?" She looked hopefully at Ooshima. 

Ooshima laughed. It was soft and polite but genuine. "Yes, but it's hard to control since the calculations need to be precise for peak mobility. We believe Mizutani should be able to handle it, though."

 "If it's Mitty, she can do anything," Natsume informed her. "I'll put all my trust in her."

Ooshima watched Shizuku as she continued to study the materials in her hands.  "That's all the both of you need to do," she said with a gentle smile.  

◇

Shizuku's mind was organised. It appeared as aisle upon aisle of carefully sorted thoughts and memories, if a little dreary. In contrast, when Natsume sank like a rock into her own mind, she swam through colours and turns and bends of indiscernible shapes, a mess of everything you could name - wishes, dreams, names for her future children, memoirs of their high school graduation, all at once overwhelming and breathtaking. She found solace and quiet in Shizuku, and where Venus Rising held their hands together, she felt like she was safe.  

"Are we alright in there?" a man's voice asked them over the intercom. She knew him as Sasayan, the (incredibly) friendly LOCCENT officer who spent more time in the Command Centre than anywhere else. 

"Yup!" Natsume answered as Shizuku nodded curtly. "We're good to go."

"Neural Handshake steady and strong. Alright, good luck!" Sasayan bade them farewell as they dropped to combine with the rest of the Jaeger's body. Venus Rising rumbled to life as they took control and departed the docking bay. 

The Category II Kaiju had surfaced thousands of kilometers away from the Japanese coastline an hour ago. Their job was to get rid of it before it could reach Japan. Just in case, the Yoshidas were already guarding the shores of Japan. That eased Natsume to know. It meant that if the Kaiju was too much to handle for them, then at least they had backup ready and waiting to finish the job.

"Concentrate, Natsume," Shizuku reminded her.

She whipped her head to look at her partner and bit the inside of her cheek. 

"Yes?" Shizuku asked.

"Nothing!"

"That's a lie," her partner pointed out. Oh, right, they were connected. Natsume had only run through the simulator with Shizuku a few times, but she was already so used to sharing her head with her friend that it had slipped her mind. Ha-ha. That was funny. 

"It wasn't," Shizuku said. 

"W-We're going too slow!" Natsume tried to change the topic in the midst of her flustered indignation. 

"Natsume's right," Sasayan spoke through the speakers, interrupting her. "You need to intercept the Kaiju before it gets to Japanese waters. It's time to use your special weapon." 

"On it," Natsume told him as they got into position. 

Shizuku pressed a few buttons and flicked some switches. "Just follow me," she said. Natsume didn't hesitate as they rose out of the vast waters.   

◇

"Closer," Shizuku instructed. 

They were already alarmingly close to the Kaiju, Natsume thought, but followed Shizuku's actions as they glided down to make contact with the monster as it trekked through the ocean. They proceeded to launch anti-Kaiju missles at the monster, but only a third had landed successfully. The Kaiju swatted the rest of the ammunition away with a swing of its arm. Natsume didn't find that to be encouraging. It released a spine-chilling roar at them and she froze in place as she saw the rows upon rows of pointy teeth surrounding an acidic tongue. Then, without warning, it began to charge at them at a surprising speed. 

"We need to move!" She immediately leaned to the left with Shizuku to ascend in the air. 

Before they could manoeuvre themselves out of reach, Natsume felt a abrupt and forceful tug on their ankle. They plummeted as the Kaiju yanked Venus Rising straight out of the air and slammed her entire frame into the harsh sea. The shock of the collision stunned them, and before they could gather themselves, the Kaiju had locked its bulky arms around them, preventing them from escape. Natsume screamed as the Kaiju attempted to squish them into pieces, and soon, after struggling fruitlessly with Shizuku, she even lost the ability to scream. 

"Mitty, this is too hard," she sobbed. "I'm scared! We're going to die!" She lurched forward and back as the Kaiju battered them.  

Shizuku remained terse and silent, grimacing as they took blow after blow. Natsume wanted to close her eyes and pretend none of this was happening. This was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Why had they volunteered? Yamaken and Iyo had a much stronger Jaeger. Why hadn't she thought this through? Oh, that's right, she never thought things through. That was what Shizuku had always admonished her for. Regret began to mix with the curdling fear in her gut, and she felt the left side of Venus go limp as she lost her will to fight. 

"Natsume!" she could hear Sasayan's voice. "You're going out of alignment! Focus! Stay with Mizutani!" 

She shut her eyes tight. It was too hard to find Shizuku in the Drift. There was a barrage of her own memories blocking her, an onslaught of all the worst moments in her life - when her father first left the house, door wide open and ajar, his keys on the floor; when all the kids in class stopped talking to her; when small little girls had been twice as scary as the Kaiju breathing down on them at this very moment - she couldn't break through all these awful memories, and the Kaiju's roar rang in her ears. As Venus creaked under all the pressure, Natsume felt her own bones rattling. Her knees trembled and bent. 

"Natsume!" It was Ooshima's voice now, crackling as monstrous nails sunk into Venus and clawed clawed clawed. "Natsume, listen, what did you tell me before?" 

Natsume cracked open her eyes, breathing heavy. She glanced over to Shizuku. Her friend was still locked in a state of unbreakable concentration. How could she possibly still be in the fight? Weren't they done for? Natsume felt the questions flood her mind, but, as Shizuku straightened her back and gritted her teeth, Natsume realised that Shizuku had been focusing on holding off the Kaiju.

"Mitty?" 

She still failed to get a reply. Shizuku's eyes were locked straight ahead, staring down the maw of the enemy. Natsume was still shivering, still unable to turn her head to face the same way, but, through the static noise and churning memories and loud, deafening thoughts in the Drift, she could hear Shizuku. It was a sudden and sharp,  _furious_ , voice in her head. 

_"Fight, Asako."_

She understood then. Shizuku couldn't talk because she was putting her all into the fight. Natsume felt her chest tighten, stricken with shock, but most of all, guilt in herself for not having noticed until now. What kind of best friend would she be if she was going to chicken out right here? She recalled the stories of her childhood, of heroines defeating monsters not with all-powerful weapons or quick-thinking, but with friendship and love. 

Natsume knew she wasn't smart and that she wasn't good at a lot of things, that she threw tantrums often and always didn't apologise even when it was her fault. She accepted all those things easily. Still, if she had to die, she at least wanted to die being the best partner for Shizuku. 

Forgetting the stinging sensation in her eyes, she raised her head and threw her arms up in time with Shizuku. Venus Rising's wings arched up against the binding arms of the Kaiju, ready to breakthrough. She felt Shizuku's shoulders tighten and angle alongside hers, and Natsume yelled as spikes burst out from the lining of their wings, rupturing the thick skin of the Kaiju. Blueish blood and the hoarse cry of a monster filled their vision. Natsume squinted and tilted her head to see a brief smile surfacing on Shizuku's face. Everything was going to be fine.   

They took to the skies. 

◇

Natsume leaned against the damaged arm of the Jaeger. She ran a finger down one of the many scars Venus was sporting. "Sorry," she told the mighty warrior. "And, thank you," she whispered, fingertips still soothing the warm metal. 

She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Shizuku stepping out from the cockpit. Her hair was messy albeit still tied in her emblematic pigtails. 

"Natsume..." Shizuku started to say, stopping as her eyes fell to the grilled floor. Natsume didn't know how to respond to her, especially not after her own disastrous performance during the battle - and then, she saw the slightest hint of dried blood above Shizuku's lips. The light red matched the colour of their Drivesuits. Natsume burst out into another bout of tears at that. She turned and ran away, nearly tripping over the row of engineers that were already bending down to repair the Jaeger. 

◇

She spent two hours wallowing under the covers of her bed. Ooshima came in at some point to offer her some hot chocolate and biscuits. These snacks did little to make her feel better, but the thought was appreciated. Natsume knew that it was entirely her fault and that she had to talk to Shizuku some time. She allowed herself to indulge in self-pity for another hour before gradually rising off her bed and trudging to Shizuku's room.

As she prepared to knock, knuckles hesitating against the door, she jumped as it opened to reveal Shizuku, all cleaned up, good as new. 

"M-Mitty," Natsume greeted her, all stiff and awkward. 

Shizuku didn't mind. She stepped aside and opened the door wider. 

◇

"I... I don't know if I can fight in a Jaeger again," she told Shizuku. 

It had been a terrifying and humiliating experience. But, it had also been an unforgettable experience. Being one with Shizuku. Understanding her fully. 

"Are you sure?" Shizuku sat down beside her. She had asked the question in her usual monotonous voice, but when Natsume raised her head out of her arms, she realised that Shizuku had been looking at her, lips pressed together, eyes betraying an unfamiliar but warm feeling of concern. 

Natsume felt embarrassed. Her gaze fell onto the tiny space of mattress separating them. 

Shizuku gave one of her critical sighs. "Natsume, you need to be sure. I need to know because it's going to affect me a lot, and there's no sense for you to go back in there if you're so afraid." 

"How should I know?" she snapped. "And you're a genius. I'm sure you could find someone who could pilot with you easy. Ooshima would help. That Yamaken guy looked interested, actually. Not to mention Haru." Natsume scrunched her shoulders together and pursed her lips. She stared fiercely at her hands, balled on her lap, and only looked up after she heard what Shizuku said next. 

"But there's no one else I want to be with."

Natsume stared blankly at Shizuku. She looked different all of a sudden. Her brow was wrinkled, her expression vulnerable and uncertain, so unlike the person Natsume had grown up with, had fought with and cried with and gotten big blue bruises with, but the longer she stared, the clearer it was that this was Shizuku. It could only be Shizuku. Natsume's arms were clasping around her friend the next moment, hoping hard and desperate that Shizuku would understand, that their connection in the Drift hadn't been broken just yet. She couldn't compress these feelings into words. 

Shizuku's hands dug tightly into her back. She wasn't trying to pry Natsume off this time. 

"I was worried about you," Shizuku mumbled into her shoulder, voice muffled by fabric and sheepish emotions. "I was scared, too."

Natsume hugged Shizuku closer to her. When she felt a half-hearted squeeze, she laughed. It was a soft and apologetic sound in the quietness of the bunk. It reminded her of the times when they used to study in the library after school, of the nights she used to spend in this very room talking nonsensically with her best friend, of all the times they wiped the secret tears out of each other's eyes and promised not to tell anyone. It reminded her why she loved Shizuku Mizutani. 

"I knew, Mitty. Of course I knew. We were in the Drift together." 

◇

**Author's Note:**

> NATSUME AND SHIZUKU KISS AND GO ON TO BE THE BADDEST DUO IN THE JAPANESE FLEET and the envy of everyone THANK YOU V MUCH


End file.
